Happy New Year! I hope if you were among those celebrating you had a nice holiday and that you have come back to the work world ready to tackle what surely will be a very busy year in the privacy industry.
I'm taking my first 2024 message to remind you that near the end of January we will celebrate Data Privacy Day. It's officially 28 Jan. — which falls on a weekend — but over the past few years, the event has morphed to be more of a Data Privacy Week.
There are already a few virtual events being promoted and I'm sure we will hear about more soon enough. An event on 24 Jan. by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario will focus on using AI in the public sector. Details about that event are here.
Another one is being organized by the federal public sector's Canada School of Public Service. The school invites participants to join the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's Privacy and Responsible Data Division, and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, as they discuss the prevention, mitigation and management of private and public-sector privacy breaches. That event is 30 Jan. and details can be found here.
I know many of you reading this are privacy officers so I'm hoping this little note encourages you to get organized to do something as well to celebrate.
There are a myriad of little things that can be done to promote good privacy practices within your organizations and beyond during this week. Sure, you might take the occasion to attend a webinar or a session for your own professional growth, but let's not stop there. Let's really use the occasion to shine a spotlight on privacy and to bring awareness to colleagues or contacts that may benefit from some privacy education and awareness.
The clock is ticking — the end of January isn't that far away — so the time to mobilize is now. I hope you take up the call and that you share what you've got planned and how it went.
In the meantime, have a great weekend.